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Biomedicalized food culture: A Critical analysis at the intersection of “healthy” food, bodies and health
No full textThis article presents my analysis of what I call the contemporary “biomedicalized food culture”. This food culture participates in defining the ways by which “healthy” food is currently understood and practiced, and in creating and orienting particular relationships between bodies and food. In this paper, I present Clarke et al.’s (2010) works on biomedicalization along with the works of researchers in critical food studies (such as Guthman (2014); Landecker (2011); Scrinis (2013)), which have inspired my analysis of the biomedicalized food culture.
Inspired by Clarke et al.’s (2010) ways of presenting the biomedicalization of the social field, I present the contemporary biomedicalized food culture from and through its constitutive processes. Drawing from my fieldwork in Montreal, Canada, I discuss how mediatization, molecularization and commercialization processes participate in the development of the biomedicalized food culture as well as in the creation of knowledge and practices constitutive of “healthy” food, bodies, and the links between them.
I approach this culture from a cultural studies’ perspective, which makes it possible to question the power relationships at stake in its development. I thus criticize how the biomedicalized food culture contributes to the (re)production of exclusions, discriminations, stigmatizations of some knowledge, practices and individuals, as well as to the (re)production of injunctions and normativities linking food, bodies and health, in particular and situated ways at the intersection of its constitutive processes. I finish up by opening up the discussion on how these relationships between food, bodies and health should be thought in their multiplicity and their complexity
Numerical simulation of a system of rectangular and circular waveguides for transmitting electromagnetic energy
No full textA rigorous three-dimensional electrodynamic model of hybrid electromagnetic oscillations in a “cylindrical to rectangular waveguide” waveguide branch filled with a dielectric is constructed. The eigen types of oscillations are classified: branching eigen resonances at transcendental modes and resonances of the waveguide-dielectric type
Multiphase modeling of a horizontal axis Darrieus turbine in river conditions
No full textIn the future, more and more household residencies will be equipped with self-generating green power systems. One green technology, which has shown its ability to provide continuously renewable energy is the Darrieus horizontal axis hydrokinetic turbine (DHAHT). In the present work, the performance of a DHAHT and its interactions with the water surface are studied numerically by a multiphase CFD solver. The volume of fluid (VOF) method is used to model the free surface, while turbulence is modeled with an unsteady k-ω SST turbulence closure. At the inlet, a fully developed boundary layer is imposed. Comparisons are made between models with and without the free surface. The single-phase approach overpredicts by 42.4% the generated power coefficient compared to the multiphase results for the fully submerged turbine. Furthermore, an improvement of 36.8% is reached when the DHAHT is totally immersed compared to the partially submerged case. The polar distribution of the torque coefficient is comparable for both configurations with a 3 lobbed rosette pattern
Molecular Dynamics modelling of Li-ion intercalation induced thermal diffusion in LixMn2O4 material
No full textIt has been experimentally and numerically observed that lithium-ion intercalation induced stress, thermal loading, and phase transition can cause capacity fade and local fractures in the electrode materials. These fractures are one of the major degradation mechanisms in the Lithium-ion batteries. With as a cathode material, stress values differ widely, especially for intermediate State of Charge (SOC) stages, and very few attempts have been made to understand the stress distribution with SOC at molecular level. Further, the effect of temperature, particularly elevated temperatures, have not been taken into the consideration. In this article, Molecular Dynamics (MD) based particle level mathematical modelling has been used to study the effect of elevated temperatures (600K, 1000K, 2000K, 2500K and 3000K) or thermal runaway like situation inside the cathode material (e.g. ) at various SOC stages. The percentage change in lattice constant and system volume during a charging cycle at 300K are 2.34% and 6.87%, respectively, that is in good agreement with the experimental findings. It has been noticed that diffusivity values increase exponentially with an increase in the temperature. For intermediate points especially 0.125<SOC<0.375 and between 300K-1000K, major variations are predicted and therefore performing MD simulations for various SOC’s and temperature to estimate diffusion properties are highly recommended
A New technique for the evaluation of the global heat loss coefficient for a flat plate solar collector
No full textFlat plate collector is the main element in low temperature solar systems. Evaluating its performance on site is an important criteria for the design and dimensioning of the whole system. The collector useful energy is given by the “Hottel-Whillier-Bliss equation”. This expression is used to deduce a form of the collector efficiency through a linear fitting. From the slope of the curve of the collector efficiency, we might calculate the overall heat loss coefficient of the collector. To do so we need to know the heat removal factor of the collector in the same context. In this paper we present a new technique to determine this coefficient. Then we generate the overall heat loss coefficient of the collector which we compare to the one calculated using Klein’s formula. Through the comparison of the two parameters, the one determined with the new technique seems more realistic since it takes into consideration the main parameter impacting heat losses
IMPROVING THE TRIBOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF CAST IRONS VIA THE SURFACE MODIFICATION IN THE HIGH FREQUENCY MAGNETIC FIELD
No full text Despite the wide application of the cast iron, the low hardness, strength and wear resistance of the unprocessed cast irons limit the application of them to the responsible parts. In the article have been analyzed the properties of cast irons theoretically and modified the surface of the cast iron EN-GJV-400 with the TIG method to improve the physical and mechanical properties of them. The microstructure, hardness and the chemical composition of the material have been investigated to evaluate the modified surface. The offered technology can be applied to increase the contact pressure of the surface, to improve the tribological properties of the parts and to recover the worn surface
Against healthist fermentation: Problematizing the ‘good’ of gut health and ferments
No full textDespite its history, fermentation is currently celebrated as both a food and health intervention. In the context of healthist discourses, fermentation is no exception to the sticky reaches of singular food truths: eat this, not that, because “it’s good for you[r gut].” However, the mandate to eat fermented or probiotic foods requires time, know-how, and material resources that are not accessible to all who eat. This framing of fermentation also fails to account for the multiplicity of health needs and ignores other barriers to food/health access. By privileging self-reliance (e.g. “I don’t buy bread; I bake my own”) and control (over one’s body, over microbial life), fermentation practices enable a culinary stance of moral superiority, which reinforce a healthist paradigm that it claims to subvert. This paper examines healthist fermentation, or pursuing fermentation in the name of gut health, to problematize assumptions about choice and control in fermentation contexts. It argues that health is not a fixed state but rather enacted with more-than-human agencies and (re)negotiated at every eating event. Using a combination of approaches from critical food studies, feminist theories, and communication studies, this paper analyzes fermentation as a way to reimagine health as being co-constructed with other scales of life
Governance of the gut: Healthism, control, and intervention in microbiome dietary advice
No full textThe science of the human microbiome offers new possibilities for understanding embodiment and health. Microbiome dietary advice seems to celebrate the probiotic ethos of a more-than-human human, of an ecological body open and exposed to the environment, and of microbial life performing essential bodily duties. This science has the potential to explode concepts of individualism and self-control that are fundamental to the ideology of healthism. However, through my analysis of microbiome diet books, I argue that the possibilities of human microbiome science as it is taken up in dietary advice are constrained by the logic of healthism. In so doing, this article demonstrates the pervasiveness of healthist ideology within dietary advice, including discourses that appear liberatory. Instead of freeing the human eater from managerial self-governance, microbiome diet books further entrench practices of control and responsibilization. Dietary advice for the microbiome reveals something about the salience of healthism in U.S. culture—even when confronted with a scientific paradigm that rejects the premise of individualism and control, healthist dietary advice reorients self-governance down to the microscopic scale
Building Foundation Piles as Energy Piles: Numerical and Experimental Study
No full textHeating, ventilation and air conditioning(HVAC) represents 63% of the residential building energy consumption. Also, there is an urgent need for more transition towards the green energy to decrease greenhouse gases emissions(GHG). Solar energy is considered as a promising source of renewable energy. However; its intermittent nature called for an efficient thermal energy storage system. Ground source heat pump(GSHP) could be a potential solution for these challenges if the building foundation piles could be used to replace the boreholes in the conventional borehole system. Coupling the HVAC system with energy piles will increase the system COP, hence less GHG emissions.in the current study a scaled experiment foundation pile was constructed to explore the thermal response of the concrete piles during heating and cooling processes. The energy magnitude during each process was evaluated and compared, to define the storage efficiency of the sample. The effect of flow behavior inside the HEX tubes will be investigated. Also, a CFD numerical model was developed by using COMSOL software and it showed a good agreement compared with the experimental results. The storage efficiency at flow rates of 735,1470 and 2100 ml/min was 55%, 72% and 58% respectivel
Why we should switch to alternative energy?
No full textThe world develops rapidly, and demand for energy increases as the global population grows rapidly. The International Energy Agency estimates that by 2030, global energy demand will increase by 50%. Nowadays, using renewable energy resources is the most pressing issue since the growth of demand cannot be met by the means of traditional energy resources. In course of supporting non-renewable energy sources, protecting the environment from harmful waste, and to meet the energy needs of the rapidly growing population, the development of renewable energy is crucial